Bentley Jennison on acquisition trail

ACCOUNTANCY firm RSM Bentley Jennison has confirmed it is on the acquisition trail in Manchester.

It is looking for a suitable target with a fee income of up to £10m as it strives to become a top 10 firm.

The Manchester office has grown rapidly over the past three years and now has 60 staff.

Managing partner Stephen Frazer said he wanted to rival Bentley Jennison’s Leeds and Birmingham offices which each employ 200.

He said: “There are several ways we can do this. The first is by organic growth because we are winning new clients and looking to recruit high calibre people. But we’re also keen to find merger partners.

“We are openly looking but at this stage we don’t have anyone specific in our sights. It’s something we’re committed to but we’re not desperate. We want to be selective.”

Asked if current economic woes meant it was a bad time to expand, Mr Frazer insisted the firm had strength in “less volatile” areas such as internal audit and would have no problem raising finance.

He added: “We’re not interested in competing with the big four but we are interested in being leaders of our chosen sectors which include advising larger owner-managed businesses.”

Bentley Jennison, which has its main offices in Birmingham, London and Leeds, has grown rapidly by acquisition since the 1990s. Two years ago it bought Manchester and Macclesfield-based firm Rennie Evans.

Accountancy magazine ranks the firm 14th in the UK with a fee income of around £70m.